Flputnam Investment Management Co. Grows Position in Tesla, Inc. $TSLA

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) by 435.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,581 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock after buying an additional 26,501 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Tesla were worth $14,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Networth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Davidson Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.4% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 61 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Prism Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TSLA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Tesla from $352.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $490.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Phillip Securities reduced their target price on Tesla from $220.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Tesla from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, April 27th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $395.20.

Tesla News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Tesla this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merger chatter between Tesla and SpaceX has intensified, reinforcing the market’s view that Tesla could benefit from any strategic tie-up or increased investor attention around Musk’s companies. SpaceX-Tesla merger chatter reignites as Musk pushes rocket company towards Nasdaq
• Positive Sentiment: Several market notes say TSLA is trading higher as investors stay focused on the potential value creation from SpaceX’s upcoming IPO and broader enthusiasm for Musk’s AI, autonomy, and robotics narrative. Tesla Stock Trades Higher as Investors Remain Focused on SpaceX
• Positive Sentiment: Technical coverage suggests Tesla is holding a “three-weeks-tight” setup and continuing to recover from earlier weakness, which can support momentum buying. Tesla Stock Is In A Three-Weeks Tight, Continues Its Recovery From A Deep Slump
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage also highlighted Tesla’s autonomous-driving and robotaxi potential as a long-term value driver, but this is more of a valuation story than an immediate fundamental catalyst. Fully Self-Driving Technology Positions Tesla Stock for Another Wave of Value Creation
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary warns that a SpaceX IPO could prompt investors to sell some Tesla shares to fund SpaceX purchases, creating temporary pressure on TSLA. The SpaceX IPO Could Be a Huge Event for Tesla Stock Investors
• Negative Sentiment: Bearish coverage noted that Tesla’s auditors have said the company’s growth narrative is “not probable,” which could temper enthusiasm if investors refocus on execution risk. Tesla’s Own Auditors Say The Growth Narrative Is Currently ‘Not Probable’

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total transaction of $1,350,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,147,700. This represents a 14.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 26,409 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $378.11, for a total value of $9,985,506.99. Following the sale, the director owned 48,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,300,145.89. This represents a 35.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 57,482 shares of company stock valued at $21,508,331. 19.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $433.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $389.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $416.22. Tesla, Inc. has a 1-year low of $273.21 and a 1-year high of $498.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 397.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. Tesla had a return on equity of 4.89% and a net margin of 3.95%.The business had revenue of $22.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is an American company that designs, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, energy generation and energy storage products. Founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, Tesla grew into a vertically integrated mobility and clean‑energy company with Elon Musk serving as its chief executive officer. The company’s stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, reflected in its combined focus on electric drivetrains, battery technology, renewable energy products and software.

Tesla’s automotive business includes a lineup of battery‑electric vehicles and related services.